Anthony Moore - Flying Doesn't Help & World Service [2CD Remastered Set] (2012)

In 2012 the Floating World label combined two of Anthony Moore's most acclaimed albums, 1978's Flying Doesn't Help and 1981's World Service, into a double-disc set. Both albums -- recorded when the former Slapp Happy member had adopted the moniker Anthony More -- are highlights in his lengthy and varied career. The moody but sometimes driving and rough-hewn art rock of Flying Doesn't Help, co-produced by Laurie Latham and replete with innovative sonic touches, is particularly notable, marked by Moore's vocals edged with declamatory assertiveness on the verses and his engaging harmonizing on the hooky choruses. On this album that compares favorably to the best pop work of John Cale, Moore sings of the tribulations of love and other subjects with a sometimes dark vision, including the tragic obsession of the anthemic "Lucia" and a version of "War," the leadoff track to Slapp Happy/Henry Cow's In Praise of Learning, here rendered with a seven-beat rhythm, staticky ambience, and Middle Eastern harmonic tinge. World Service is a fine album that nicely complements Flying Doesn't Help in this set, although its hooks are somewhat less insistently memorable (the title track is a highlight, with its sound samples, tribal drumming, and intimations of ominously interrupted radio transmissions and violent political upheaval). However, potential buyers of this set should be aware that the version of World Service here is not the original, but one that Moore has tinkered around with -- to the wails and lamentations of some of the album's fans. The track listing has been ordered differently and alternate versions of songs -- notably "Broke 'n Idle," whose Diddley-meets-dubby atmospheres have been replaced by a comparatively strummy lite rendition -- appear here and there. Still, pop/rock listeners who prefer their music touched rather than overwhelmed by avant-gardisms are encouraged to begin their investigations of Moore with Flying Doesn't Help -- with or without this version of World Service appended -- followed by Slapp Happy's quirky yet engaging albums, which, it should be noted, tend to showcase Dagmar Krause and Peter Blegvad somewhat more prominently than Moore. Those who continue to explore Moore's career by venturing into his early-'70s minimalist-inspired modern composition albums, reissued by Blueprint, will find themselves in another world entirely.